Isaiah 34:1-17: a reflection

1Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear, the world, and everything that comes from it. 2For the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and angry with all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has given them over for slaughter. 3Their slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up. The mountains will melt in their blood. 4All of the army of the sky will be dissolved. The sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree. 5For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, for judgment. 6The LORD’s sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7The wild oxen will come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood, and their dust made greasy with fat. 8For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, and its land will become burning pitch. 10It won’t be quenched night or day. Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation, it will lie waste. No one will pass through it forever and ever. 11But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. 12They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. 13Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. 14The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there, and shall find herself a place of rest. 15The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate. 16Search in the book of the LORD, and read: not one of these will be missing. None will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. 17He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

Isaiah 34 is a hard chapter of judgment on the nations, ending in desolation, a land given over to wild creatures. But tucked into it is a striking statement about the reliability of God's word. Seek and read from the book of the LORD, Isaiah says of the detailed things he has foretold: not one of these shall be missing; none shall lack her mate. For the mouth of the LORD has commanded. Everything God has spoken, down to the details, will come to pass exactly; not one word will fail.

Notice the confidence in God's word this expresses. Isaiah has prophesied many specific things, and he stakes their fulfillment on the reliability of God's word: seek and read, and not one of these will be missing. What God has said, God will do, precisely, completely, without a single word falling to the ground. His word is not idle or uncertain; it will be fulfilled to the letter, because the mouth of the LORD has commanded it.

That certainty applies to all of God's word, his warnings and his promises alike. What God has spoken will surely come to pass; not one word of his fails. That is sobering for his warnings, which we ignore at our peril, and immensely comforting for his promises, which we can trust absolutely. Whatever God has promised you, his forgiveness, his presence, his faithfulness, his final salvation, you can be certain of it, for not one of his words will be missing; all will be fulfilled. Rest your hope on the utter reliability of God's word. What he has said, he will do; not one word will fail.

Lord, Isaiah stakes everything on the reliability of your word: seek and read, and not one of these will be missing, for your mouth has commanded it. Thank you that everything you have spoken will surely come to pass, precisely, completely, not one word falling to the ground. Let that certainty steady me, both in your warnings, which I ignore at my peril, and in your promises, which I can trust absolutely. Whatever you have promised me, help me rest my hope on it, for not one of your words will fail. Your word is sure.